TOKYO (AP) – The Japanese comedian behind the viral hit “PPAP” said Friday that he is astonished by the global success of his “pen-pinapple-apple-pen” song.
Pikotaro, as he is known, debuted a two-minute “long” version of the 45-second song and answered a wide range of questions at a Tokyo news conference in from the song’s origin to whether the Japanese prime minister has called him.
Sort of. His responses had the audience of journalists and others laughing, but it was often hard to separate fact from fiction.
The song cost 100,000 yen ($1,000) to produce in a six-hour session in a rented studio, he said. He claimed he came up with the idea for the song at the house of his producer, Daimao Kosaka, which is actually his comedian stage name.
With the tune playing, he said he picked up a pen to begin writing, and thought about Kosaka, who comes from apple country. An open can of pineapples was sitting on the table, and “pen-pinapple-apple-pen” was born.